Bock house to be torn down
Wrong location at Red Rock, too expensive to fix, city says

The old Bock house at Red Rock Canyon Open Space will be demolished, City Parks Development Manager Terry Putman
said this week.
The decision follows an assessment process over the past year, capped by recently rejected proposals to two local open-space
groups offering them the chance to fix up and move into the 1,556-square foot former home of the Bock family, built in 1967.
Putman said that the cost of the repairs and the location of the house - well up the canyon from the Highway 24/High Street
trailhead - worked against keeping it. The city would prefer some kind of center near the trailhead, but has not master-planned
it. Putman has been talking informally with the U.S. Forest Service about incorporating center-type functions into a building the
Service might put there in about four years.
Chris Lieber, city trails coordinator, had given a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Oct. 14, stating that a
city analysis had determined it would cost $253,000 - including $20,000 just for the leaky roof - to bring the house up to code.
He had concluded his talk with the statement that non-profit groups were being approached about the possibility of a “creative
partnership” with the city regarding the Bock house.
Putman updated that information Oct. 20, saying that the city had limited its proposal to just two groups - the Palmer Foundation
and the Trails and Open Space Coalition of the Pikes Peak Region - both of which have since said no.
A date for the demolition has not been set. Putman said the job will be put out to bid.
The house is eye-catching for its site, nestled beside a large vertical rock and a man-made lake, and its greatroom, which
features floor-to-ceiling plate-glass windows (since boarded up). However, the house has been criticized for poor craftsmanship.
The house was “Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired, but not Frank Lloyd Wright-designed,” Lieber told the Parks Board.
Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, granddaughter of the famous 20th-century architect, has previously told the Westside Pioneer that
the building has “no architectural value.”